‘Girls Gone Wild’ fined $1.6 million

The “Girls Gone Wild” video empire agreed to pay $1.6 million and its founder was sentenced to community service Wednesday for filming drunken, underage girls in the raunchy videos. The guilty pleas by Mantra Films Inc. and its multimillionaire founder, Joe Francis, stem from the company’s use of two 17-year-olds in its DVDs and videos, which feature young women baring their breasts in public. The videos at issue were filmed in Panama City Beach, Fla., during spring break in 2003. U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak ordered Francis to read aloud in court a victim impact statement from one of the women, who said she was emotionally tormented by her appearance on a “Girls Gone Wild” video and that the video damaged her relationship with her family. Smoak told Francis he added the community service because it did not appear a fine would be a meaningful punishment. The fine represents less than 3 percent of Mantra’s profits since 2002 and only 12 percent of Mantra’s 2005 profits, Smoak said.

Eddie Murphy could relate to ‘Dreamgirls’ character

Eddie Murphy says he has one thing in common with his “Dreamgirls” character, the talented and troubled soul singer James “Thunder” Early. “I could relate to him – the whole idea of him faking his way to the top, like that idea,” the 45-year-old actor said. “Because I think every artist feels, you know, in the back of your mind, it’s like – you’re kinda like – they’re believing this?” He added: “You know, you kind of feel like, at any moment, they’re gonna pull the covers off, and be like, ‘He’s not an artist!’ ” Murphy’s screen credits include “48 Hrs.,” the “Beverly Hills Cop” movies and the “Shrek” films, in which he voiced the character of Donkey. “Dreamgirls,” which also stars Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson, opens in theaters Dec. 25.

Campbell won’t be charged with assault in London

Naomi Campbell will not be charged with assault because there is insufficient evidence, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday. Campbell, 36, was detained and questioned by police in London in October following an alleged altercation with another woman. The Prosecution Service said it had advised police there was no realistic prospect of a conviction, in part because the complainant had left Britain and would not return to testify. The British supermodel is due back in a Manhattan court Jan. 16 on charges that she threw a cell phone at her maid over a pair of missing jeans. Campbell pleaded guilty in Toronto in 2000 to an assault charge for beating assistant Georgina Galanis while making a film in Canada in 1998. Under an agreement with the prosecution, Campbell expressed remorse and was released without punishment or a criminal record.

Aretha knows Aretha best

There’s only one Aretha Franklin, but the Queen of Soul plans to hold auditions for singers to portray her. A musical based on her 1999 autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots,” will tour nationally, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday. The production will tell Franklin’s story of growing up in Detroit in the church headed by her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin; of having family friends such as Sam Cooke and Dinah Washington; of her personal struggles; and of her rise to international stardom. Hits by Franklin, 64, include “Respect,” “Chain of Fools” and “Freeway of Love.”

Bob Barker will pledge $300,000 toward housing an elephant from the Los Angeles Zoo in an animal sanctuary. The pledge would match donations in support of sending Ruby, a 45-year-old African elephant, to a sanctuary in San Andreas in Northern California, publicist Henri Bollinger said Tuesday. Ruby is housed at the zoo, but animal rights advocates have raised concerns about the zoo’s treatment of elephants, including a 48-year-old Asian pachyderm named Gita who died in June. Another elephant, Tara, died in 2004.

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